Since a winner will be declared only months before campaigning for the 2014 city elections begins, an appointment is a strong possibility.

But “you cannot put a price on democracy,” Ford told listeners of his Newstalk 1010 radio show The City on July 7.

Even though a new councillor would only hold the seat until December 2014 and Ford himself told listeners a byelection would cost $150,000, he said people in the ward want a say in who their interim councillor is.

“It’s easy for someone else in another riding to say, ‘Oh well, just appoint somebody,’ but you want somebody that you don’t even know — could be from downtown, could be from the other side of the city — representing you at council? No,” he said.

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